Eating Out Redux: 6th and Vine
When one of my friends suggested that we go to 6th and Vine, a wine bar on Trade Street for her birthday recently, I thought it was just going to be for libations.
I should have known better. She’s a fine food fanatic, and in fact, the instigator of the one of the most decadent ongoing series of potluck dinner I’ve ever been a part of or a guest at.
But I haven’t enjoyed meals I’ve had in the past at 6th and Vine - reading back, I noted fishy, pasty crab cakes, tired salads and plasticine cheese chopped into cubes. Yikes! Even I think that sounds harsh now. I also remember 6th and Vine as having a smart wine list with lots of by-the-glass pours but a restaurant that too quickly turned into a smoky bar and meat market as evening wore on.
Back to the other night.
We snagged a long table (getting there at the quiet hour of 7 p.m., because 6th and Vine still doesn’t take reservations - that’s troublesome for large parties) and settled in with a crisp bottle of Albarino. And soon after, a groaning antipasti platter landed on our table.
For the record, it was on the house, because someone who works at 6th and Vine likes this friend, too. But the only reason I am telling you about it is that I would have paid for it, and then some.
It was a gorgeous, bountiful sight, scarlet swirls of marinated roasted red pepper, pale green commas of cornichons, slippery olives and roasted garlic cloves and a small mound of salty tapenade, all framed by fresh mozzarella and fat-flecked pepperoni, soppressata and salami (from Giacomo’s). My mouth dropped. “Ooooo,” I thought. “Am I in the same restaurant?”
We had a bunch of other appetizers and salads, too, sharing them and eating dinner tapas-style, and while much of the food didn’t still my heart like the antipasti, much of it was solid, and some was very good, particularly a deep bowl of garlicky shrimp that tasted like a less spicy version of New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp. And I’d go back to try the duck quesadilla and a take on chile rellenos. I’ll be the first to step in line and declare that the kitchen’s gotten better and braver at 6th and Vine, at least as far as some of the appetizers are concerned. We didn’t have any entrees, but what I tasted was ten times better than those meals three years ago.
Almost - the late night smoke is still there.
This week, 6th and Vine’s manager, Chuck King, told me that the chef there, Will Kingery, will be the chef at Noma. Chris Barnes’ new restaurant and bar will be opening later this fall on Fourth and Marshall streets. It’ll be interesting to see what Will does there.
